Too Many Canada Geese in the Dakotas?

Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has spent the last five years in Queens. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy, their son, Desmond Shearwater, and their two indoor cats, Hunter and B.B. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications.

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Genine Proietto

July 31, 2012 7:34:01 am

I love love love Canada Geese. They r so friendly, like pets. They kno how to cross the street too. If they would just thro cheereos in one place every day the geese will stay there. Where s peta when u need them.

As nice as Canada (and Snow) Geese are to view, populations of geese have exploded well beyond biological carrying capacity over the last decade or more because of changes in agricultural production all the way from southern Canada to the southern U.S. As a result, they are causing an environmental travesty in the arctic breeding grounds. The recently released “State of Birds in Canada” report hightlight the tragic impact of geese destroying habitat for many artic-nesting bird species, with a huge negative impact on shorebird species. Some of those species have declined by as much as 70% in a decade. Admittedly, much of the increase in goose populations is related to human causes (agriculture). Still, this is a case where humans have to get actively involved in lowerinng goose populations before they endanger dozens of other species. We don’t have to like the idea of large bag limits for hunter shooting geese, but as birders and conservationists, we should support those high bag limits.